1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electrical measurement equipment used to measure or monitor the characteristics of electrical signals and, more particularly, to electrical measurement equipment integrated as a body mounted or attachable display and voice recognition system for use in xe2x80x9chands freexe2x80x9d measurement of electrical signals in a telecommunications system. The invention has particular application to radio frequency (RF) signal level meters used in the measurement of RF signals in a cable television plant but is equally applicable to other telecommunications measurement applications.
2. Background Description
Signal level meters for field use in cable television systems have been available in various forms for many years. However, state-of-the-art in signal level meters typically require the use of a display or meter movement, and the device is operated by some form of mechanical switching ; e.g., keyboards, buttons, knobs, or the like. Additionally, conventional devices are typically carried by hand and operated by hand. When used in adverse conditions, usually in aerial situations (e.g., poles, platforms, bucket truck, etc.), the user must use his or her hands to situate and operate the device while also protecting against an accidental fall.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electrical signal measurement device which can be worn by or attached to a technician so that the device can be operated in a xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d manner.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided electrical measurement equipment integrated as a body mounted or attachable display and speech recognition system for use in xe2x80x9chands freexe2x80x9d measurement of electrical signals in a telecommunications system. The electrical measurement equipment typically includes a system unit which is carried on or attached to the person of a technician by attachment to a belt, harness or the like and, in a first embodiment, a headpiece incorporating a display, microphone and head phone. The display, microphone and head phone are linked to the system unit and supported by software, including a speech recognition system, running on a central processing unit (CPU) which is part of the system unit.
In a second alternative embodiment, the headpiece is replaced with a chest mounted unit which folds down to provide convenient viewing of a display. In this embodiment, the microphone and a miniature speaker are integrated into a bezel surrounding the display. In both the first and second embodiments, a separate battery pack may be mounted like the system unit to a belt, harness or the like worn by the technician.
In a third embodiment, the three elements of the second embodiment, that is, the display, the system unit and the battery pack, are packaged in a compartmented fabric case which may be easily worn by a technician by means of a shoulder or neck strap.
In operation, the technician connects a probe to a test point in the cable or telecommunication system, and the technician operates the device by speaking into the microphone. The speech recognition system responds to the technician""s spoken words to direct and navigate through a displayed user interface screen in order to operate the electrical signal measurement functions. Synthesized speech signals are generated to provide the user with audible feedback and messages. A signal introduced at the probe is sampled and digitized by the CPU and associated circuitry and then formatted for display by the display screen. The digitized signal is stored in memory, and may be later downloaded to a centralized data storage system for analysis.